The Official Pokémon YouTube has launched a new monthly scripted video series, Beyond the Pokédex, hosted by Spruce and Maple (Those can’t be their real names, right?) and delving into the in-depth details of any or all 1,000+ Pokémon in existence. It’s even broader in scope than it sounds, as Beyond the Pokédex will “examine Pokémon through their appearances in video games, animation, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, manga, and more.” The first episode chooses to focus on Sobble, critter #816, so the hosts delve into all sorts of trivia, with some game footage and manga art spliced in here and there. If you care about Pokémon, this sounds like a fun time.
Although Beyond the Pokédex is clearly scripted, in contrast to Nintendo’s discontinued, unscripted Nintendo Minute YouTube series, Spruce and Maple (those names!) definitely carry that wholesome and inviting positivity that Kit and Krysta had as the Nintendo Minute hosts (and continue to have on the Kit & Krysta Podcast). The view count on the video is pretty low at the time of writing, sitting under 3,000 views, but it only just launched and most people are only hearing it exists at this very instant. So there’s plenty of room for this show to grow each month, and hopefully it’ll become a fun new way for The Pokémon Company to interact with fans. (Also, if you do the math on 1,000+ Pokémon and the show only releasing monthly… Well, they won’t run out of content for a while.)
Next up on the Pokémon docket is the two-part DLC expansion for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, which still doesn’t have a hard release date but is looking enticing so far.
